Entries tagged as ‘Grains’
September 23, 2009 · 2 Comments
Risotto is one of those perfect dishes with which to experiment. From chicken broth to mushroom soup, the short-grain rice is eager to absorb whatever liquid you throw at it. At the same time, it’s creamy color and texture make colors and crunch a welcome addition. Pairings range from smoked trout and roasted butternut squash, to the ever-popular asparagus spears and mushrooms. Even cold leftovers provide a reason to rejoice, with warm suppli just around the corner!
Having recently made roasted asparagus, I decided (more…)
Categories: Entrees · Sides
Tagged: Asparagus, Grains, Rice, Risotto, Steaming, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Making the perfect couscous is kind of like doing laundry. It requires washing, drying, steaming, and sorting. Just boiling a pot of water is not going to cut it. The same way wrinkled sweat pants don’t quite compare with creased slacks, instant couscous has nothing on old-fashioned Moroccan-style couscous.
And just as dressing well takes effort, so does making the perfect couscous. But if you have the time, it is well worth the effort. You will need (more…)
Categories: Sides
Tagged: Couscous, Grains, Ina Garten, Middle Eastern, Steaming
I wasn’t quite sure what to name this dish.
After making my three-cheese risotto, I ended up with several servings of left-over, cold risotto. Cold risotto, it turns out, is perfect for making fried risotto balls, alternately known as suppli or arancini.
Suppli is short for “Suppli al Telefono,” which translates as “telephone wires.” Traditional suppli is fried risotto that has been stuffed with mozzarella cheese. The idea, of course, is that biting into a good suppli produces a low-hanging mozzarella string, reminiscent of telephone wires.
Arancini is Italian for “little orange,” because (more…)
Categories: Appetizers
Tagged: Bread Crumbs, Cheese, Frying, Grains, Italian, Rice, Risotto
Having a food blog doesn’t stop me from asking silly food questions.
On a recent trip to the grocery store, I could not find the risotto. After several minutes of scrounging around the different rice and grain shelves, I decided to solicit help. As I explained to the store clerk, I was making three-cheese risotto, and all that was left on my list was what the recipe referred to as “risotto rice.” He kindly pointed me to arborio rice.
Risotto, I learned, does not refer to an ingredient, but rather to a dish.
The key to risotto (more…)
Categories: Entrees · Sides
Tagged: Cheese, Grains, Italian, Rice, Risotto, Steaming, Vegetarian
Thomas Jefferson may not have been around to sample my mom’s yellow rice. But if he had been, I can only assume he would have found this dish a perfect side for his chicken fricassee. (more…)
Categories: Sides
Tagged: Grains, Rice, Steaming
Not every couscous recipe has to be served with dinner. Seffa, a couscous sweetened with cinnamon, sugar, and rosewater, is one of the more common couscous-based desserts. This recipe (more…)
Categories: Desserts
Tagged: Almonds, Couscous, Grains, Middle Eastern, Steaming
Couscous is not a grain, as you might think, but a semolina paste. In fact, couscous is made from the same wheat semolina flour used to make commercial spaghetti.
Couscous originated in the Maghreb, today’s North Africa, and owes its origins to the Berbers, an indigenous people of the region. The Saracen conquest of Europe in the 7th and 8th Centuries is believed to have introduced the dish to the Western world.
Owing to its origins, couscous is often served (more…)
Categories: Sides
Tagged: Butternut Squash, Couscous, Grains, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Roasting, Steaming, Vegetarian
Not every great recipe requires seven steps and several stopwatches. Cheese grits are one such example.
Grits are crushed kernels of dried corn. The dried kernels are crushed between millstones and the resulting fragments are sorted according to density. The dense shards are grits, and the lighter shards are cornmeal. Polenta is an even finer grind of yellow corn, with all the particles of flour later removed. These stone-ground grits can be made from either white corn or yellow corn, with little difference in taste between the respective varieties.
Stone-grounds grits are coarser than (more…)
Categories: Breakfast
Tagged: Brunch, Cheese, Grains, Quick and Easy, Southern, Steaming
